Wednesday, December 5, 2018

The Village of Newburgh Heights has passed legislation that will create a fund to assist new home buyers with student loans. College grads who move to the itty-bitty blue-collar suburb off I-77 will now be eligible to receive 50 percent of their outstanding college debt or $50,000, whichever is lower.

The incentive would be vested at 80 percent after 10 years of residency and fully vested after 15 years of residency to encourage long-term home-ownership and housing-stock stability.

Mayor Trevor Elkins, who proposed the legislation last month, described it as a means to attract young college grads and to give Newburgh Heights' a leg up as it tries to grow its population and its tax base in a changing "knowledge-based" economy.

The legislation will apply to purchases of homes exceeding $50,000, of which there are currently seven for sale within Newburgh Heights village limits. The legislation is attached below.